Photography Calendar – Images of the PNW

Just put the finishing touches on my Images of the Pacific Northwest Calendar.

This is the first photography calendar that I have created.

Which is cool because I was able to select my all-time favorite photos.

All photos were captured on multi-day backpacking trips into the PNW.

Stay organized & inspired, my friends.

You can purchase my photography calendar HERE.

Calendar details & enlarged photos below.

PNW Photography Calendar Details

• The year is 2020, January-December.

• Holidays & moon phases are included.

• High-quality, full-color photos.

• Clean, modern, non-distracting look & feel.

• If you buy this calendar, you can feel good knowing that you helped support my work. 🙂

Stories Behind the Photos

There are very few things I hold more dearly than the memories from my trips into the backcountry.

My favorite photos always seem to be in line with my best experiences.

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Cover

I can easily say this was the most insane 360-degree view I’ve ever seen.

This is the hardest to reach, least explored region of the North Cascades.

My good friend Dave & I spent 7 days backpacking around this glaciated paradise.

The craziest thing about this vantage point was that it looked this WILD in every direction.

I’m pretty spoiled being able to hike so much…

Like all good things in life done excessively, you can start to lose some of that sheer first-time joy.

Being up here took me back to the space & time of my very first hikes.

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January

The first time I saw this lake in person I had hiked about 1,800 miles on foot from Mexico.

It was summertime and the lake was outlined with cars & tourists. While still incredibly beautiful I knew I had to see this place in winter conditions.

The Rim above Crater Lake sits at about 7,000′ and gets hammered with 40+ feet of snow most years.

The only way to see the lake in these conditions is by snowshoeing in.

My friend Jake & I spent 4 days of snow camping above the Lake. It was one of the most surreal/serene experiences I’ve had to date.

This is a challenging place to photograph in these conditions. The lake is covered by clouds for about 50 percent of the winter.

Strong winds and below freezing temps are pretty constant.

I lucked out on this sunset.

No winds left for a nice reflection. Rare anti-crepuscular rays formed around the full moon as it set into the alpine glow.

Take me back.

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February

I often think that the goat is my spirit animal.

They are currently in the process of relocating all goats from the Olympics to the Cascades.

I’m incredibly sad to see them go. I have had so many awesome experiences around them while backpacking through the Olympics.

This one walked right by our camp as the sky blew up with pretty colors.

Good luck with the Cascades my friend.

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March 

Its been about 5 years since I captured this photo & still holds a spot as one of the most memorable sunsets I’ve experienced.

I was on a solo backpacking trip and this was my first time here. I was blown away for sure.

Right after I captured this photo 2 AWESOME hikers showed up & joined me on top of the summit.

We watched a lightning storm pop off in the distance, shared whiskey and stories under the darkening sky.

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April

This is my favorite plant. Period.

It’s easy to get lost in one of these while hiking across meadows of the Olympics.

Like, I just get stopped in my tracks when I hike by this plant.

I’ve snapped hundreds of photos of these pretty stands of corn lilies over the years.

One must be careful around this one.

While insanely beautiful, this alluring plant also happens to be poisonous.

This photo holds a special place in my heart. I captured it on my first 10-day traverse across the Olympics.

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May

Staring at the milky way under a dark sky is an experience that I wish everybody could have.

An experience that goes back to the beginning of our existence.

Feeling oh so small but also feeling as giant as the universe itself.

This night was especially special to me.

I had just started dating Trish and this was the second backpacking trip we ever went on.

Fell in love for sure.

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June

Glacier Peak is one of the most beautiful mountains in the Pacific Northwest.

This view caught me by surprise. I was on a 7-day fall backpacking trip in the Central Cascades.

Every time around this year people are going nuts about hiking into the Enchantments.

My friend Dave and I like to take the opposite approach.

Our goal was to hike through some of the most remote Larch filled areas of this region.

We never saw another person on this trip. We did see & photograph hundreds of golden larch trees.

One of our nights was spent atop a mountain where I captured this photo.

This Ended up being my favorite photo from the trip.

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July

This is the oldest photo in my portfolio that I’m still incredibly stoked on.

Every Winter I make it a point to get out on as many trips as possible on the Olympic Coast.

The rugged coastline is one of the most beautiful places on earth. This was one of the first places that I ever backpacked to.

I fell in love immediately. No other place brings me to such a peaceful state.

Hanging out with friends around the fire usually follows these sunsets.

The haze in the distance of this photo is from our fire directly behind me at camp.

I can still remember warming up by it on this January evening.

I have spent 50+ days backpacking across this coast & still haven’t seen another sunset like this one.

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August

I spent close to a full month backpacking into this remote river valley last year.

One of the trips involved hiking as far up this valley as we possibly could and then pack rafting 40 miles out to the Pacific Ocean.

You could say I have a tiny crush on this place.

HUGE crush would be more appropriate.

This Olympic rainforest contains more living things per square acre than any other spot on Earth.

I have decided not to name drop this valley to follow digital leave no trace principles.

I’ve never seen another human outside of those hiking with me in this valley.

Animals seem to be the more concentrated here than any area I have hiked into.

I have had countless close encounters with bears, elk, coyotes, eagles, and deer.

I even had a cougar walk right out in front of me on a 6-day solo trip into the valley.

My all-time favorite animal encounter happened on my last trip here.

A baby coyote came within ten feet of me and started jumping around and was trying to play with me.

I was probably the first human it had ever seen. I still smile thinking about the experience.

This photograph was captured on a winter afternoon.

The setting sun lit up the frosty ground creating these intense light beams.

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September

A few moments after I shot this the entire area was swallowed up in a cloud that looked like it was on fire.

It started pouring down rain & I couldn’t see more than 100’ in front of me. It was wild.

Haven’t experienced anything like it since.

This was one of the first places I ever hiked to back in 2010. Strangely enough, it was also pouring down rain on that trip.

At the time I was hiking in jean shorts and Van’s shoes. Still an adolescent kid trying to figure things out.

I remember taking cover under a tree getting soaked…

I waited hours hoping that it would clear up so I could see Mt. Baker.

I never did get to see Mt. Baker on that trip but I vividly remember coming back home being more stoked on hiking than ever.

It was one of the few days in my life that I can look back on and see that it completely changed the course of my life.

Soon after, I replaced partying with hiking. Swapped the Van’s out for some real hiking shoes.

I then sold almost all of my material possessions and started planning to hike the Pacific Crest Trail.

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October

If I could only hike in one region for the rest of my life it would be the Olympics. No question about it.

This is one of my favorite self-portraits. In these moments I truly feel happier than I ever have before.

There is a small alpine lake below this ridge. We spent the day catching & eating alpine trout before we hiked up here for sunset.

What more could a kid ask for?

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November

I was on the fence about having 2 goat photos in my photography calendar…

The fact that these are some of the last photos that were captured of these beautiful animals in the Olympics helped make up my mind.

And I mean, come on…

How could you not be stoked looking at these cute baby goats?

There was a pack of 11 hanging out around our camp on this day. It was the biggest group I had ever seen in the Olympics.

It was so cool watching them play around and interact with each other.

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December 

Me doing what I LOVE most.

I feel so fortunate to be able to hike into these beautiful areas.

Going to sleep with one ear pressed closely to the ground. Experiencing nature in its purest form.

I just love it.

I really hope my photographs inspire & bring you to a place of peace, happiness & oneness.

Thanks for checking out my art & joining me on this journey.

Much Love.

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About the Photographer

For those of you that don’t know me personally yet,

My name is Iron Tazz.

I spend over 100 days a year backpacking into remote areas of the Pacific Northwest.

My backpacking photography spans close to 10 years now.

You can get to know more about me by reading my bio.

Get Your Calendar Here

You can get one of my photography calendars HERE.

P.S. These make sweet gifts.

Thank You

Seriously, thanks SO much for being here.

This journey wouldn’t be nearly as awesome without YOU.

I really appreciate the support.